Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
My cock perked up under my pants. Embarrassing. Goddamn traitorous dick. My brain hated just about everything about Storm, but my cock still found a way to betray me.
“You’re impossible,” I said softly, breaking eye contact with him and walking away. “Wait. Oreo? Where did she go?”
I looked all around and Storm did, too, stepping out onto the stone path and making his way over toward the driveway.
“Oreo,” he called out. “You never go more than ten steps away. Where are you, little ragamuffin?”
We both looked around for a minute before hearing the telltale jangle of her collar, coming from the direction of my house.
“How is she already back over there?” I asked.
We made our way past the line of pine trees over to my yard.
“There,” Storm said, pointing at a newly dug hole, right at the crux between his backyard fence and mine.
“Christ, she’s fast,” I said. “Here.”
I punched in the code to my backyard gate and swung it open.
“Fancy fancy,” Storm said, taking on a prim fake English accent. “A simple metal latch gate just won’t do, will it? Must keep all the riff raff out with a gate code.”
“What’s wrong with having a gate code?”
“Nothing’s wrong with it, other than the fact that it’s pointless,” Storm said. “Anybody who wanted to could just jump the fence.”
“Not likely.”
He raised an eyebrow, took one look at the fence, and then hoisted himself up onto the part right next to the gate. His biceps flexed, his chiseled muscles on full display again as he easily launched himself into my backyard.
He dusted off his hands on the other side, giving me his mischievous dimpled smile as I walked through the gate opening.
“Bravo, bravo,” I said, giving him a slow little mocking round of applause. “I’m so impressed. A guy who works out for a living proved to me that he could hop my fence.”
“There you are, silly girl!” Storm called out as Oreo came running up to his side. She licked his ankle and then darted back off toward Pepper, who was running around in the grassy portion of my yard.
“Is your dog friendly?” Storm asked, squinting over toward the two of them with slight concern. “Makes Oreo look like the size of a guinea pig.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I was just thinking she kind of looked like a guinea pig earlier in your arms,” I said.
Storm smiled, too. “She’s my li’l mop,” he said.
“And don’t worry about Pepper. She’s essentially a lamb in the body of a Husky.”
Pepper dropped onto her back in the grass, showing her belly while Oreo hopped all around her, ready to play.
“That’s your new neighbor, Oreo,” Storm said.
“Hardly new, to her,” I said, cutting him a glance. “Your dog’s been in my yard more than her own since you moved in.”
“Not my fault the old man who had my house before me never reinforced under the fence,” Storm said. “I’m trying to get it fixed. If you don’t hire a hitman to murder me before I can get a chance to be on your precious Fixer Brothers cash-cow TV show, then it will get fixed.”
“The Fixer Brothers are more than just a cash cow to me,” I said. “But you’re right. The man who owned your house before was kind of a snake. I had to coordinate repairs for a burst pipe over there one winter while he was on vacation for six weeks in the Italian countryside. He never even thanked me.”
Storm nodded, his eyes scanning my face. “Well, you can bet I’ll be taking better care of the house. I actually give a shit, and I know the value of money.”
I looked over past the fence toward the back ridge of his yard.
“The Aspen trees in your yard are going to be stunning in about three weeks, by the way,” I told him. “Best fall colors imaginable.”
“The tall ones?” Storm said. “Might have to cut those down to make room for my hot tub.”
“Cut those Aspens down and I really will hire a hitman to come to your house,” I said.
His smile returned. “I was kidding. The trees are beautiful. I’m not a fall colors kind of guy, though. I like it when everything’s green.”
I shook my head. “You’ll see. Those Aspens get the perfect amount of light to be a gorgeous autumn gradient. Pale green on one end, then yellow, gold, amber, and cherry red. It’s like a Monet painting. You’ll fall in love with them.”
He watched me for a moment. “Are you a nature kind of guy?”
I thought about his question. “I’m not an avid hiker or anything, but I do love the beauty nature can bring. People, things, trees, flowers. All of it.”
“Maybe we’re not so different.”
“You appreciate nature?”
“I can’t imagine not loving it,” he said. “I dated a girl once who literally said she hated nature. Who hates it? I can understand not wanting to go camping, but hating pretty flowers?”